Self-harming kids are being left at the mercy of bitter online trolls

Parents and teachers need to be more watchful of vulnerable youngsters — and social media companies must use technology to protect them

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By Jane Moore, Sun Columnist

8th August 2018, 12:52 am

Updated: 8th August 2018, 12:54 am

AS a teenager, my best friend was someone I believed at the time to be a bohemian free spirit.

She smoked (fags and pot), she drank alcohol (often in front of her liberal parents), always had what my mother would consider to be unsuitable boyfriends and was effortlessly academic, particularly at maths.

According to new NHS data, the number of hospital admissions for girls who have self-harmed has jumped from 7,327 in 1997 to 13,463 last year. For boys, the figures have stayed almost the same — from 2,236 then to 2,332 now.

Experts are pointing at academic pressure as being a significant factor in self-harming

Now these brave warriors have a keyboard and pseudonym behind which they can troll you for everyone to see.

By my age, you know the vitriol probably comes from a bitter, 53-year-old virgin who lives in his mother’s spare bedroom. But when you’re still finding your way in the world, that poisonous undermining can worm its way inside your head and chip away at the confidence that acts as an armour in life.

One self-harmer told me the pain of cutting his skin provided a welcome distraction from the “washing machine” rotations of negative thoughts constantly disturbing his peace of mind.

The majority of them can be helped if it is spotted early enough and the expert assistance they need is then easy to access. And therein lies the problem.

Whatever the truth, it remains the case that many couples conveniently consider only full sexual intercourse as adultery.

But of course, cosy chats, lingering touches and come-hither looks are all it takes for any man with a wandering eye to recognise that, should he wish to jump ship, there’s a shiny new model waiting in the wings to rev up his sex life.

But in these Tinder times of endlessly sweeping left in search of the “perfect” mate (who doesn’t exist) it’s invaluable when someone high profile points out that, more often than not, sticking with the one you’ve got works out in the end.

Altogether now, “Love is a decision, not just a feeling.”

Daisy-May is a model of strength

Daisy-May Demetre's smile lights up a room.

Just eight years old, she was born without her lower legs and now uses two prosthetic blades that allow her to live as full a life as possible.

She attends mainstream school, loves PE and has just been given a modelling contract with high street brand River Island.

Yet, because of her disability, her parents Alex and Claire admit to feeling a “profound sadness” the day she was born and asked themselves what they had done wrong. And when, as a toddler, Daisy-May had to endure a painful, eight-hour operation on her stumps, Alex admits he turned to alcohol and gambling in a bid to numb his feelings of hopelessness.

But by the time she was four, Daisy-May had mastered her blades and was doing cartwheels and headstands.

Alex, 35, from Birmingham, says: “I looked at her and thought, ‘If you can achieve so much, against all the odds, and still be cheerful, then I have no reason at all to be depressed’. I stopped gambling and drinking that day.”

While no one would wish disability on their child, the Demetres’ story is a salutary lesson that, sometimes, what seems like insurmountable adversity through an adult’s eyes can, through a child’s simple acceptance and joie de vivre, enrich your life and give it deeper meaning.

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Just my type

Following a cyber attack in Alaska, government officials have abandoned their computers and taken to using old-fashioned typewriters.

Back to the future...government officials in Alaska have reverted to type

I still have my original typewriter from my days as a junior reporter on the Solihull News and it was a loyal servant that never crashed, froze or ran out of battery. I may even request for it to be buried with me.

It seems that my love for these machines is rivalled only by Tom Hanks (yes, that one) who has written a book of short stories about them and created an app called the Hanx Writer, which emulates the glorious click-clack sound as you type.